This past Winter Cozumel Volunteer Connection helped to coordinate an entire day of activities for the music lover's Jam Cruise #6 which docked in Cozumel January 8th. Jam Cruise is organized by Cloud 9 Adventures, an entertainment production company specializing in music-themed cruises and tropical musical odysseys.

While In Cozumel, 30 Jam Cruise volunteers cleaned up 1,000 pounds of trash from a beach about two miles away from their cruise ship's port. Afterward, they enjoyed some downtime at PalMar Beach Club, lunch, snorkeling and a tour of Patas & Alas Butterfly Sanctuary. The volunteers also delivered school supplies to Cozumel Chrysalis Group and they donated nearly US$450 to NUAFA (Nucleo de Apoya Familiar - means Heart of Family Support). The cash donation provided by Jam Cruise was collected as a "Social Tax" for those onboard wanting to participate in this day of creating a positive Jam Cruise Legacy in Cozumel.

The cash raised by the "Social Tax" and donated to NUAFA Women's Shelter was used for a significant facility improvement. New iron gates were made, painted and installed on the patio entrance to NUAFA. The gates provide greater security for the children in daycare and also secure the property to prevent loss of assets. This is the first time that NUAFA has had a way to lock the facility! New gates have been needed for a very long time but the organization didn't have the resources to replace the old rickety ones.

Identifying potential organizations with needs consistent with the goals of the Jam Cruise Greening event

Notifying and facilitating local press coverage of Jam Cruise's community service efforts

Cozumel Volunteer Connection says MANY THANKS to the Jam Cruise Greening Team for all they have done to benefit Cozumel!”

What is Jam Cruise and the Greening Team?

Simply put, Jam Cruise is a week long floating music festival of today's hottest new bands. Jam Cruise!

The Greening of Jam Cruise is a grassroots program of the festival which began with the maiden voyage in 2003. The Greening program seeks to reduce or eliminate the enviornmental footprint of Jam Cruise as well as to leave a positive legacy in the Ports of Call that Jam Cruise visits. Through the efforts of the Greening Team of each Jam Cruise, dedicated music fans are inspired to be part of the solution and be enviornmentally and socially conciencious as they travel throughout the Caribbean.

Some of the other accomplishments of Greening Jam Cruise ~

Carbon Offsetting - Jam Cruise 6 was CARBON NEUTRAL!
Jam Cruise worked together with Trees, Water & People, a nonprofit organization that helped them achieve this feat through a combination of tree planting and fuel-efficient stove installations. TWP develops and manages continuing reforestation, watershed protection, renewable energy, appropriate technology, and environmental education programs in Latin America and the American West.

A Two Pronged Approach to Cruise Generated Waste Management By offering keg beer for the duration of the cruise instead of bottles, Jam Cruise was able to reduce the amount of glass waste generated on their journey. They also implemented a new recycling strategy in partnership with Events, which encouraged Jam Cruise passengers to participate in pre-sorting waste streams through the use of designated waste stations positioned throughout the ship and manned by volunteer waste educators. This visible and interactive approach to recycling left a positive impression on music festival passengers and allowed them to be active participants in waste management.

On the final day of Jam Cruise 6 approximately 24 tons of glass, plastic and aluminum were offloaded and destined to be recycled. However, due to extremely strict USDA regulations governing international waste, a small portion of the recycling was found to be contaminated by food and rejected. The old adage “one bad apple can ruin the entire bushel” was certainly true in this situation. However, there is a silver lining - the Greening team of Jam Cruise were not deterred. After a bit of networking, the Jam Cruise waste was tranported to the Broward County, Florida Waste-to-Energy Plant where it was turned into electricity and put into the grid in Southern Florida. This facility is a fully permitted Title V facility with state-of-the-art vapor recovery controls and scrubbers, and is regulated by the EPA and strictly monitors air and water quality. This waste-to-energy plant provides power to 80,000 homes a year.

And the endeavor to green continues…
The Jam Cruise Greening team remains committed to finding solutions to the challenges of greening a cruise-based festival. They believe it is important for every one of us to be informed about the environmental impact of cruise travel and to work toward positive changes that will effectively reduce that impact. The challenges that the cruise industry faces will not be solved overnight and will require that all of us stay focused on the larger common vision of building a sustainable future.

AT THIS TURNING POINT IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH EARTH WE WORK FOR AN EVOLUTION FROM DOMINACE TO PARTNERSHIP FROM FRAGMENTATION TO CONNECTION FROM INSECURITY TO INTERDEPENDENCE
~ from the 1992 UN Earth Summit Declaration of Interdependence